5 Simple Tips To Great Curb Appeal

5 Simple Tips To Great Curb Appeal

I love all things decorating, and home beautifying. When we purchased our first home 4 and a half years ago I was so excited to decorate, paint, personalize and just make it my own. Having lived in condos and apartments before we bought our home, I was used to having weekly gardeners and pretty much NO back or front yard to worry about maintaining. I was in for a little shock when we moved in. We now have a back and front yard that’s greatly larger then our home, and a lot to maintain! I’ve learned to love it, and become a pretty good little gardener if I do say so myself!
I’ve asked my friend Jackie, who just happens to be our awesome realtor to give me some of her tips for beautifying the front yard– aka: “curb appeal”. I just love her tips, and will for sure be implementing them in my yard. Here’s what Jackie has to say, hope you enjoy!

If you’ve spent any time watching or reading about selling your home, then you’ve heard the term
“curb appeal”.  Truly: what is curb appeal?

From a potential buyers’ perspective, it is the simplest, most welcoming invitation to your home.  We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but you need to know who your beholder is…..

When you are a homeowner selling one of your largest investments, the beholder is everyone that is planning to purchase a home in the price range of your home.

So! How do you appeal to everyone without appealing to no one?  It’s actually quite easy.

Look at your frontyard with a 5 point plan of attack:

1.       What is your largest area of space…..

-          Is it grass….  Make sure your grass is green, mowed and free of clumps of weeds

-          Is it hardscape….. wash and sweep it, it needs to be clean. Add potted plants to soften the edges.

2.       Plant fresh flowers. It might sound corny, but that first impression is overwhelming.  One of my clients bought 2 colors of the same annual and alternated them up the walkway to the front door. It really looked great.

3.       Planters…… clean them, deadhead the plants regularly and clean up the dead undergrowth, then put down colored wood chips. The wood chips might seem a bit costly, if you’re working in a budget but well worth it. The chips add such a freshness and make it seem tidy.  The contrast in colors between the plants and the chips, emphasizes the planters in a good way.

4.     Look at your outdoor lighting. Do you have a single porch light? Is it looking worn? Replace it. For less than $50 you can replace the porch light and sharpen up the entry.  For more than one light, please be sure they match…..AND keep working bulbs in them. Using automatic timers is a good idea.

5.       Mailbox and welcome mat. These items should be clean and if necessary, replace them with new. 

Does a buyer not buy a home because of a porch light or welcome mat? Probably not. Curb appeal is setting the stage of what your guests (potential buyers) will find inside, whetting their appetite. 

I will tell you, having shown hundreds of homes and written too many offers to track, serious buyers will step over each other, fight and compete for the homes that have a sense of “HOME” and create the warmth that we strive for.

Seriously, if you live in OC and are looking for a great realtor or someone to call to get some of your housing questions answered- give Jackie a call. Hope you have enjoyed these front yard beautifying tips! Thank you Jackie!

      c.949.813.9950

      o.949.597.1596

      BRE#01233768

www.jackiedirect.com

5 Easy 4th Of July Desserts

5 Easy 4th of July Dessert Ideas

The 4th of July is very quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays. I just love the Americana decor, warm summer weather, being outdoors, swimming, BBQ’s and of course the fireworks. Easy going living, and I just love it!
There are just too many cute dessert ideas out there. I want to share a few of my favorites with you, and FYI all of these are pretty self-explanatory, super easy and cute… Enjoy!

These white chocolate dipped strawberries are adorable with the blue sugared tips, and how easy?!

This might be one my favorites! I just love how beautiful the berries and whipped cream look in the pretty trifle dish (have I mentioned how much I love trifles?) And again, so simple, as you just layer the berries and whipped cream, and if you want to get a little crazy add a layer of cut up angel food or pound cake into the trifle.

These firecracker pretzel rods are cute. Just take your pretzel rod, dip in melted white chocolate, and top with red, white and blue sprinkles. Display them in a cute glass or mason jar. These would even be a really cute centerpiece.

I just love this fruit/pretzel flag. This includes strawberries – (they can easily be substituted with raspberries) and blueberries- which are some of my favorites. It also includes yogurt pretzels,  love those too! (a little hint- purchase your yogurt pretzels in the bulk bins at Sprouts, its cheaper and you have the control over how much to purchase!)

I LOVE these patriotic ice cream sandwiches! Take a box of frozen, pre-made ice cream sandwiches and rim in patriotic colored sprinkles for a yummy, cool treat- stick optional, but I think it looks cute!
Happy 4th Everyone!!

photo credit: rollingout.com, schmittastic and celebrations.com

My TOP 10 must haves for summertime!

My top 10 must haves for summertime!

HAPPY HAPPY SUMMERTIME FRIENDS!!!
Thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you guys.
These are my absolute must-haves for summertime (actually, all the time!)  Here you go–
#10- Skinny Girl Sangria


I’m normally a red wine kind of girl, but I was chatting with a good friend recently and she raved about this stuff, so I thought I’d give it a try- and you know what? It’s pretty darn good! This sweet, fruity white wine sangria is absolutely perfect for summertime, and approx 130 calories per 5 oz to boot. I’ll take it! I found it at Target for about $10 per bottle. The Skinnygirl brand of cocktails has many more variety/flavors available. I’ll definitely be checking them out!
#9- The Honest Company Sunscreen

It is almost impossible for me to choose only one item from this amazing company, as I love every product of theirs I’ve tried (and I’ve tried almost all of them) but since it’s summertime I’m choosing their sunscreen. When it comes to my kids and the products I use on them, I want to be certain that the products are safe and made with pure, natural, amazing ingredients. I do not have to worry whatsoever when I’m  using  The Honest Company products! This sunscreen is SPF 30, fragrance free and glides on super smooth. I just love it! I was first introduced to this company about a year ago through a friends instagram photo. I read the book “The Honest Life” by Jessica Alba (founder of  The Honest Company) and the book changed my life! Why use products with yucky synthetic ingredients in them when you can purchase great, high quality natural and organic products for about the same cost? The Honest Company offers customers to sign up for their monthly “bundle” to get your favorite products shipped directly to your house every month at a discounted rate (which is what I do!). They are now also offering their products at Target and Costco, so if you just want to try out an item or two from them, this might be the way to go. But seriously give their stuff a try- I promise you will love it!
#8- EOS “Sweet Mint” Lip Balm

Everyone loves lip balm/lip gloss, am I right?! Thought so. If you haven’t tried this one, then I highly suggest you run out to Target, Walmart, Ulta, Ralphs… Like right now! EOS (Evolution Of Smooth) is 100% natural and 100% organic, and for approx 3 bucks a pop, you can’t go wrong. I love the fun packaging too. The “sweet mint” flavor is my personal favorite, but they have so much to choose from including lemon drop, tangerine and summer fruit- which smells like fruit punch, yum! So go on, go out and get your EOS!
#7-  doTERRA Peppermint Essential Oil

I Love my doTERRA  essential oils. I think the peppermint oil would have to be my favorite. I use this for reducing my kiddos fevers, tummy problems, an afternoon pick me up and in my water, but the number one reason I use this stuff is for my headaches, and I tend to get a lot of them (blah!) All you do is take a drop or two, apply to temples and back of neck, and I tell ya it works almost instantly for me. Love it.
#6- Bare Minerals Faux Tan

I’m addicted. This product delivers the results I need. It absolutely DOES NOT disappoint. Trust me friends, I have tried so so so many sunless tanners out there, and this one plain and simple works! I do not like to be exposed to the sun at all- it’s horrible! Nor do I desire to tan like I did when I was a teenager. This Bare Minerals Faux Tan gives a nice bronze, sunkissed glow immediately without the harmful rays of the sun and a few hours later the bronze color will intensify. It really is amazing. I purchase mine at Ulta.
#5- Alex and Ani Bracelets

Oh how I love my Alex and Ani bracelets. My hubby bought me 4 in gold for our 10 year anniversary last February. I got the initials “A” for me, Alisa, “B” for my hubby Brandon and “C” for the kids, Charlie and Ciera. I also got the “path of life” symbol (each Alex and Ani bracelet has a specific meaning). Since then I’ve purchased two more, a gold one with a grape charm (for my love of the fruit- in liquified version, ha!) and I also started the silver collection, uh oh. My silver bracelet has a cute little cupcake on it- don’t need to explain that one. These bracelets are the perfect accessory for anytime of the year. You’ll rarely catch me without mine on. They are made in the USA, eco-friendly and made with all recycled metal, they are approx $28 each. The more you wear them, the more of a vintage look they will acquire, which I love. I’m warning you, these are very very addicting. Just like the potato chip- you can’t have just one Find these bracelets at Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and various boutique shops.
#4- Reed’s Kombucha

I love the Reed’s brand. They offer a variety of fancy sodas (my kids LOVE their rootbeer!) But I LOVE their kombucha. My fav flavor they make is the mango ginger. I think kombucha is the “in” thing to drink these days, and that’s ok with me. It’s a fermented tea and definitely has an acquired taste, but I love it. It has a natural effervescence. It’s also full of probiotics, B vitamins, antioxidants and so much more. Give it a try!
#3- My Crockpot

Who wants to slave over a hot stove on a warm summer day? I love using my crockpot so I don’t have to! Here’s my favorite crockpot recipe to make from “Just A Pinch”- Rootbeer chicken.
#2- Rita’s Italian Ice

I won’t go into detail on why I love Rita’s so much- you’ll just have to read my blog that I posted a few weeks ago- click here. But please guys, check this place out. It’s THE perfect summertime dessert!
#1- Trader Joe’s Coconut Body Butter

And, my NUMBER 1 favorite item is this little gem. Trader Joes Coconut Body Butter. It is ahhmazing! I use it constantly throughout the day. My hands are extremely dry- probably from my OCD hand washing, and I swear this stuff cures the dryness. It smells divine- like summertime, really. It has such a smooth, non-greasy texture, and the BEST part– it’s only $4.99 a pop at your local Trader Joes. Yep, at that price friends, you NEED it!

Please give some of these goodies a try and as always, I’d LOVE to hear from you. Shoot me a comment on your favorite summertime products- I’d love to connect. Stay cool friends!
xo, Alisa